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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Oh Hey...It's 2015!

I think one of the things I've come to accept about myself is that sometimes I just need a little more time to process information. Yes, it's almost a full week into 2015 and I swear I thought about the fact that a new year was around the corner before it was actually here, but I just didn't process everything I needed to yet to be able to meaningfully discuss it. For example, reflecting on my goals for 2014 since I don't feel like I can fully move forward into 2015 before reflecting some.

I'm still a little proud of myself that I actually closed out my year of Courage (2014's One Little Word) and shared my word for 2015 - Now. And I swear that I thought about goals and resolutions...but thinking about them and actually screaming them from the rooftop are two very different things. Because what I'm learning is that if they are only in the brain, they aren't anything. They are just a nebulous thought that can poof away in a moment. If they are down on paper they are an actual living, breathing thing. Right?

I set some goals in January 2014 and I kind of treated them like most people treat their resolutions. I wrote them down and then promptly forgot about them for the most part. One goal stuck and I kept it in my mind all year long and worked at it (most of the time). Let me take a look back at those goals for a moment:

Get to my goal weight of 140: How did I do? I think I'm probably in the EXACT same place I was at the beginning of 2014. I bounced around in the same 10-pound range and didn't actually lose any net weight. So that was a total bust...

PR in the major race distances: How did I do? I can pretty much check them all off except for the half marathon which will take place this weekend. I ran a 5k PR at the Hometown Heroes Honor Run in October. I ran the Mission Inn 10k in November and it was not a PR which was disappointing; HOWEVER, I noticed on my Garmin records that I set a new 10k PR in 2014 at, of all things, my marathon in September. I was surprised by this as I had set out to start slower than slow and I definitely owned the marathon mentality of slow and steady. So I count that as a 10k PR because, well, Vinnie my Garmin says so. And he speaks the TRUTH, yo! And then since it was my very first marathon, it was an automatic PR even though it was ridiculously slow. So that leaves the half marathon that is taking place on Saturday (which I'm considering part of 2014 since it is SO early in the year). Do I think I will PR? No, no I absolutely do not. If I did I would be absolutely shocked. But I'll try and even if I fall a little short, I'm going to consider this goal mostly a success.

It turns out I run a marathon while standing still...HA! AKA: the picture where I didn't want to look terrible so I struck a pose instead.

Blog on a more regular basis: How did I do? Well, look at the archives and see for yourself. This wasn't a total bust, but it wasn't a success either.

Devotional or Bible Reading 3x a week: How did I do? Total and complete bust. 'Nuff said.

Date night with Hubby 1x each month: How did I do? Yeah...not so much. But we did get to enjoy some time with each other by going to the beach in August, spending time at a cabin with the family in June, going without the family to my marathon in September, and other little things throughout the year. The reality is that we spent a lot of family time and that was truly awesome and I wouldn't give that back for solo time at all. And we spent a lot of lazy Fridays just chilling on the couch catching up on TV shows we like to watch together. Call that a date if you want because it was more awesome than going out to dinner. Not a success, but not a total bust either.

Pumpkin Patchin' it up in SoCal style...note the shorts and tank tops - yeahhhhhh...

Now I did have some very real roadblocks come up that weren't entirely expected, but isn't that life?? I started taking classes again by randomly deciding a week after classes had started that now was the time to work on my transfer units so I could finally get going on that long-awaited and forever-and-a-year-ago planned Bachelor's degree. And I couldn't make it easy on myself either by enrolling in an online Managerial Accounting class that kicked my rear for much of the semester. It wasn't helped by a VERY poor instructor either. But I survived the initial shock to the system and pulled off an A (that was very much EARNED) to boot! I also survived marathon training in what turned out to be a very long, very hot summer. My hubby had a gallbladder meltdown that is still in the process of being fixed. My oldest son and DIL moved to Japan for three years. Lots and lots of ups and downs with kids that are in between being kids and being grown ups. I could go on. Let's just say there were roadblocks that may have caused a stumble or two, but aren't excuses as to why I didn't meet my goals for 2014. I didn't meet my goals for 2014 because I simply didn't work at them all the time.

BUT...I feel like 2014 was a really great year! It had challenges galore, but it was full of rewards too. I feel like I made courageous choices. I feel like I appreciated a slower pace of life most of the time. I feel like I maximized my free time and did what I wanted to do instead of what everyone else wanted me to do. I proved that I was capable of more than I thought I was ever capable of by training for and completing a marathon. And I finally took a really big step towards accomplishing an education goal. And on top of all that, I was an active part of Team SunRype through Active Ambassadors including being invited to apply again for the 2015 team!

So really, me and 2014...we are ending on good terms. We are square and I think I'm finally ready to think about what 2015 has to offer!